A Somali pirate chief yesterday threatened to target Americans in revenge for the rescue of a US captain in a dramatic operation that saw naval snipers kill his captors after a five-day standoff.
After the rescue late on Sunday, the head of the pirate group that had held the American hostage aboard a lifeboat said they had agreed to free him without ransom before the US Navy took action.
“The American liars have killed our friends after they agreed to free the hostage without ransom … this matter will lead to retaliation and we will hunt down particularly American citizens traveling our waters,” Abdi Garad said by phone from the pirate lair of Eyl.
“We will intensify our attacks even reaching very far away from Somali waters and next time we get American citizens … they [should] expect no mercy from us,” he said.
Captain Richard Phillips, who commanded the Maersk Alabama cargo ship, was rescued when snipers shot the pirates on Sunday evening, after US President Barack Obama approved the use of force to save him, the navy said.
He was in good condition after being held hostage for five days in the lifeboat from the Maersk Alabama, whose American crew had fought off the pirates’ attempt to capture it on Wednesday.
Navy snipers hidden in the stern of the USS Bainbridge, one of two warships that rushed to the scene, shot and killed the pirates, said Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, commander of US naval forces in the region.
The pirates “were pointing the AK-47s at the captain,” who was tied up, Gortney said, adding that Obama had given orders to “take decisive action” if Phillips was at risk.
The snipers fired when they had one of the pirates in their sights “and two pirates with their head and shoulders exposed,” Gortney said.
At the time the Bainbridge, a guided missile destroyer, was towing the lifeboat to calmer waters and was between 25m and 30m ahead of the boat.
CNN reported that the snipers were earlier brought in by helicopter and dropped into the water behind the Bainbridge.
The fourth pirate had surrendered, Gortney said, adding that the US Department of Justice was “working out the details” on how and where to prosecute him.
US media described the surviving pirate as possibly being 16 years old.
Although Washington’s policy is to not negotiate with pirates, Gortney acknowledged that US officials had engaged in a “deliberate hostage negotiation process” with a pirate who had come aboard the Bainbridge earlier.
After the pirate returned to the lifeboat, the process reached a low point and “it got heated,” he said.
Phillips was taken aboard the Bainbridge then flown to the assault ship USS Boxer. He called his family in the US and received a medical checkup.
In Washington, Obama — who had been publicly silent on the hostage crisis — said in a statement that he was “very pleased” with Phillips’ rescue, calling it “a welcome relief to his family and his crew.”
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary